Nobody was quite sure what it meant. Was he saying that the personnel (which would include a turnstile of failed receivers and a tight end who wasn't sure if he wanted to play until April) wasn't that great and he needed to carry the team more than ever? (Maybe, and he wouldn't be wrong.)

Was he taking some sort of weird shot at BillBelichick during the middle of the Namaste Cold War between Team Brady, Yoko Guerrero and the HC of the NEP? (Shrug)

Maybe he was stating a — duh — fact that, in today's NFL, it would kind of be in a team's best interest to have a fairly good passer of the pigskin?

Your guess was and is as good as any from the pundit class.

But, I'll say this, that quote has been swimming around in my oversized cranium the past four months.

Great quarterback. This team. Hopefully.

I'm still not sure what he meant, but maybe Brady was just predicting the future.

Because entering today's Week 15 showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers, this Patriots team needs a great quarterback right now, Brady hasn't been one all season, and he needs to stay right through Feb. 5.

If not, there's no Super Bowl in his team's future — playing in it, or winning it.

The Patriots needs MVP Brady to take up residence — and what better setting than a stadium and against a team he has ownership in — or this season is going to spin away like Brady on his atrocious throw to ChrisHogan last week in Miami.